Following the holiday break, area teams headed back to conference play last week. Check out these top performers and make sure to vote on the StarNews Varsity home page or click here. We’ll announce our selection Thursday with a Q-and-A here on the blog and in Friday’s print edition.

Ashley’s Tyre Gathright poured in 70 total points in a pair of victories last week. (Mike Spencer/StarNews)

Lauren Duncan, Coastal Christian girls’ basketball, Sr.: Among the area’s most consistent scorers, Duncan turned in a pair of all-encompassing performances to guide the Centurions to a 2-0 mark last week. She racked up 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a 51-32 win over Wilmington Christian on Tuesday and then came back with 14 points, six rebounds and three steals in Friday’s 39-29 win over Carolina Friends.

Tyre Gathright, Ashley boys’ basketball, Jr: Playing under first-year coach David Rutledge, Gathright’s confidence on the offensive end continues to grow. The 6-foot-2 swingman exploded for 70 total points in a pair of victories last week. He had 36 points in Wednesday’s victory at Clinton and then scored 12 of his 34 points in the decisive third quarter of Friday’s 74-61 win over rival Laney.

Nikayla Ramsey, North Brunswick girls’ basketball, Jr: The Scorpions are off to a 2-0 start in their first season in the East Central Conference, boosted by a pair of strong performances from Ramsey. The point guard hit piled up a season-high 22 points with six steals in Tuesday’s win over Southwest Onslow. She did more distributing in Friday’s victory over Croatan, finishing with 14 points, nine assists and five steals.

Case Marshall, Topsail swimming, Jr.: Marshall helped the Pirates claim the boys’ crown at the Mideastern Conference 3A meet on Saturday, winning four events. He cruised to a 16-second victory in the 200 freestyle and just beat teammate Thomas Allen to the wall in the 100 freestyle. He also anchored a victory in the 400 freestyle relay and swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay team.

Did we miss somebody? The nominees are pulled from our live event coverage and scanning box scores in our print edition throughout the week. If you don’t see a deserving candidate, it might mean we didn’t get their results called in. Let us know in the comments, and we’ll reach out to their coach to make sure they don’t get overlooked next time.

About This Blog

Hey there, I’m Alex Rileyand I’m the high school sports writer for the StarNews in Wilmington.

Before coming to North Carolina, I was covering sports for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne for two-plus years. Before that, I was in Ellis County, Texas covering sports for Waxahachie Newspapers Inc. Originally I’m from Blythewood, SC and I’m a 2008 grad of the University of South Carolina.

Follow me on Twitter at @StarNewsVarsity or email me at alex.riley@starnewsonline.com.